Porn makers distance themselves from some... porn makers?

[gonzo]

SAN DIEGO -- Obscenity prosecutions are taking a toll on the porn industry as publishers embrace an every-man-for-himself approach under relentless Bush administration attacks.

The annual Cybernet Expo on Sunday here was overshadowed by a big question: Whether to stand united with producers of "extreme" material bearing the brunt of the assault in order to preempt attacks on milder content, or get some distance and hope to avoid being targeted?

Tara, webmaster of freepornstarpix.com (NSFW), prefers the latter approach. "It would be better to sacrifice some people … so everybody else can get on with it," said Tara, who declined to give her last name because her family doesn't know about her job. Extreme content producers, she said, "need to cool it, pull back a little bit" instead of "asking for it" during a right-wing administration.

A lightning rod in the debate is the 2003 obscenity prosecution (.pdf) of production company Extreme Associates (NSFW) for videos that feature urination, adults portrayed as children and simulated rape. The case, which has been bouncing around the court system for three years, is expected to go to trial in Pittsburgh next year.

Extreme Associates owner Rob Black blasted the porn industry this weekend for breaking ranks, rather than standing united.
"You hear all this solidarity. Bullshit," he said. "This industry except for about five people has hung me out to dry. Everybody wants to make a fucking compromise."

Pressure against the industry increased last month with a landmark lawsuit that appears to target a somewhat milder grade of porn. The Justice Department issued an obscenity indictment against JM Productions and Five Star Video over four porn DVDs, one featuring bukkake (NSFW) and another that reportedly simulates torturous oral sex to satirize the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The defendants face a maximum sentence of five years for each of several obscenity counts.

In the new prosecution, the government is "getting closer to the center" and moving away from the most extreme content, said Connor Young, president of the porn webmaster resource site YNOT.com. He thinks all porn should be allowed except material that features children or involuntary violence.
Porn industry attorney Greg Piccionelli believes in the solidarity approach. "If we don't defend the people they start with, sooner or later they'll work their way down," he told the webmasters.

The Extreme Associates case could set a precedent that tiny clips of video or even individual photos could be declared obscene even if they're part of a larger piece of work. "It is absolutely critical that (the defendants) prevail, that the work be taken as a whole," Piccionelli said.

The court cases will also determine if "regressive fiefdoms of conservatism" can apply their own local standards about obscenity to the internet, he said.
What's next? As the extreme content cases are heading to trial, there's no resolution yet over proposed federal rules that threaten to shut down some porn sites.

Piccionelli acknowledged that industry attorneys have developed a reputation as "Chicken Littles" who always say the sky is falling.

Even so, he predicted that if another Republican enters the White House, "the whole industry will be in the same position as Extreme Associates four years from now."

[softball]

An ethical dilema. In Canada, Sweet Entertainment, who produce extreme porn, won a legal battle which really cleared the path for less extreme adult websites to operate freely.
What is disturbing is that in the US, is that tiny jurisdictions are able to impose their community standards on the rest of the country.

[TheEnforcer]

That's a tough nut to crack. I can see where people from both sides of the spectrum feel they are correct in the approach. On the one hand you have people who wouldn't even consider using the content Black produces and doesn't like it because it makes the industry bigger targets. On the other you've got the slpiiery slope and giving the government too mucn power approach as well because shit rolls down hill and how far will it roll down?

[Paul Markham]

An industry that could not stand together against a a bunch of scheming lawyers holding worthless patent is now planning to stand against The White House.

Please let's be real here.

Sorry for my cynicism.

[tony404]

Originally Posted by Paul Markham

An industry that could not stand together against a a bunch of scheming lawyers holding worthless patent is now planning to stand against The White House.

Please let's be real here.

Sorry for my cynicism.

I hate to say it but its very true. Things can get crazy but I dont think they can make the jump for rape and scat to just naked chicks. At the end of the day they have to be able to show something to a jury and get a gasp. Thats harder and harder nowadays considering whats on cable TV.

[softball]

Originally Posted by tony404

I hate to say it but its very true. Things can get crazy but I dont think they can make the jump for rape and scat to just naked chicks. At the end of the day they have to be able to show something to a jury and get a gasp. Thats harder and harder nowadays considering whats on cable TV.

I kind of think you have to ask yourself if extreme porn is really part of your industry. The guys that produce it would like you to think so. I question that. The government would like you to think so. I also question that. Do you want to take the fall for rape and scat sites? I question that.
I actually don't consider myself part of the "extreme" business at all. I consider myself part of the adult entertainment business.
I have nothing in common with rape, degredation, or any other extreme sites apart from the media we trade in.

[Hell Puppy]

Originally Posted by Paul Markham

An industry that could not stand together against a a bunch of scheming lawyers holding worthless patent is now planning to stand against The White House.

Please let's be real here.

Sorry for my cynicism.

Yup, the industry is not yet weeded out enough to be the domain of business people only. It may never be. You cant organize them. There's way too many people active in the business who could care less about long term repercussions, the prevailing attitude is, and may always be, get as much as you can as fast as you can with no regard to the long term repercussions.

It's an industry tradition.

[softball]

Originally Posted by Hell Puppy

Yup, the industry is not yet weeded out enough to be the domain of business people only. It may never be. You cant organize them. There's way too many people active in the business who could care less about long term repercussions, the prevailing attitude is, and may always be, get as much as you can as fast as you can with no regard to the long term repercussions.

It's an industry tradition.

Actually, there is no industry. All the bullshit awards (best blowjob video, best dp...blah blah), the conventions. All a weak cry for recognition. Personally, I could care less. Show me the money.

[Hell Puppy]

Originally Posted by rhetorical

An ethical dilema. In Canada, Sweet Entertainment, who produce extreme porn, won a legal battle which really cleared the path for less extreme adult websites to operate freely.
What is disturbing is that in the US, is that tiny jurisdictions are able to impose their community standards on the rest of the country.

Wanna buy a zipcode list?

Where's Lee?